The love of my life
by stevieLUVSAlex
Summary: I am a sucker for a happy ending and so I changed it. Kelly/Chuck shipping One shot


**A/N: I realize how the story ends, and I understand WHY it had to end that way. But I don't accept it. I am a HOPELESS romantic and every love story should end with warmth flooding through our bodies. So for those who liked the story ending without Chuck and Kelly, I advise that you don't read on. But to those who are just like me, and I hope I'm not alone in this, read on… because every love story should have a happy ending.**

"Jerry?" Kelly whispered in the dark.

Jerry rolled over and flicked on the light. His face was streaked with pain but his eyes were soft. "Don't say it," he begged.

Kelly sighed.

"You haven't been the same since he came home," he observed.

Kelly let a tear fall from her face. Jerry was wonderful. He had treated her like a goddess and she would always be grateful to him, but she couldn't pretend anymore.

"I know you've been meeting him," he said. "I understood that you needed something from him that I couldn't give you. I was patient. I just didn't think it would end here."

Over the last few months, Kelly had been meeting Chuck in secret. At first she just wanted to talk. In her head, she was sure that they could find a way to be friends, because losing him all over again would break her to pieces. He was the love of her life. Chuck was content with seeing her face once a week or so, it was her that pushed for more. The nightmares kept her awake most nights and she figured that if things changed somehow, if seeing him would prove his existence was not in her head, then the nightmares would stop.

And they did.

But with the absence of dreams came the presence of emotion.

Kelly began to fall in love with him all over again. She listened to the stories he told of his four years on that Island. He talked about Wilson and the way he felt when the ball drifted further away from him at sea. He told her about the dreams he had, of seeing Wilson again. It had honestly felt like he had lost a dear friend, someone who had gotten him through those years on the Island, alone and scared. But he kept telling her that she was the reason he fought to stay alive. She was the reason he breathed life, against all odds that he would ever see her again. And even though he had lost her – twice, he was grateful to her for giving him a reason to survive.

Kelly shared her own stories. She told him about the weeks that she couldn't get out of bed, when they finally stopped looking for him, when everyone around her told her to give up, said he was gone. She shared the pain of letting go only to discover that she was right, and how guilty she felt about her decision to marry. It wasn't that she didn't love her husband because she did, it was that he was her fallback and not the man she had envisioned growing old with.

Chuck began to see the feelings come flooding back to her, and Kelly came to realize that his feelings had never left.

"I was standing at a crossroad, wondering where on earth I was going and then you called my cell phone," he told her. "It was a sign."

And that was why Kelly was awake tonight, and why she had come to the decision she had.

Life was short and unpredictable and she would always love Jerry, after all he was the father of her child. But her heart belonged to Chuck, and though she had tried endlessly to change that, she couldn't. It wasn't fair on Jerry to expect anything less than a whole heart, and she couldn't offer him that.

Not now. Not ever.

Because tomorrow the sun would rise and it would bring them a second chance.

"I'm sorry, Jerry."

"I know," he nodded.

"So what happens now?" she asked.

"I'll let you decide that. Just one favour?"

"Anything."

"I want more than weekend visits with my kid," he said.

"I would never take her away from you. There's no limit on visiting. I promise," she stressed.

The two of them hugged. Kelly knew that she was being unfair to him, but how much more unfair would it be to spend her life with him, wanting someone else? Her decision was made and it was the right one.

And when she called Chuck the next day, it felt like a burden had been lifted.

"I love you," she said freely, as they met in the same café.

"Kelly, I…" he was stunned.

She touched his face, remembering the way they had kissed the night he came to her house. The passion that spread through her life wildfire. She wanted that again. She wanted _him_.

"Jerry knows how I feel about you," she explained. "He knows I've never stopped loving you."

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"I've never been surer."

He pulled her to him, folding her into his arms and this time he knew, he was never going to let her go.

**Review if you like. :-) **


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